NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: THIS WILL BE THE FINAL EDITION OF THE MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST IN 2004. THE NEXT ISSUE WILL BE PUBLISHED ON JAN. 4, 2005.
Contents of this issue:

Study: Tuition tax credits could save Utah $1.3 billion

Michigan governor receives state education commission report

Detroit school audit uncovers questionable financial practices

President Bush signs special education reauthorization

Grand Rapids board reviews plans for year-round schools

Michigan schools chief calls for school district restructuring

STUDY: TUITION TAX CREDITS COULD SAVE UTAH $1.3 BILLION
SALT LAKE CITY — The Deseret Morning News reported that a study commissioned
by the Utah Legislature and published last month by Utah State University
researchers indicated that Utah could save up to $1.3 billion over 13 years by
allowing parents to use state-granted tuition tax credits to choose a private
school for their children.

The tuition tax credit plan analyzed in the study was based on a bill
introduced in the Utah Legislature last year. The plan would allow a tax credit
of up to $2,000 for tuition for students who begin attending private schools
(current private school students would not be eligible for the credit).

Because $2,000 is less than the amount Utah spends per student annually, the
extra state funds — over $6,500 — remaining behind from a student who switched
to a private school would be spread among existing public school students.
"Tuition tax credits could save the state some money. ... It sounds like tuition tax credits are a well-justified policy," said USU associate professor of political science and study co-author Roberta Herzberg, according to the Morning News.

Opponents of tuition tax credits in Utah have said that the number of
students choosing to attend private schools in the state would not be large
enough to create such savings. "We're not ready to endorse the concept at this
point in time," State Associate Superintendent Patrick Ogden told the Morning
News.

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Friedman Says Vouchers and Tax Credits
Useful Route to Greater School Choice," March 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4117

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Case for Choice in
Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education," January 2001
http://www.mackinac.org/3236

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR RECEIVES STATE EDUCATION COMMISSION REPORT
DETROIT — The Detroit News reported that Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm
accepted a report last week containing recommendations meant to help double the
number of college graduates in Michigan during the next decade.

Michigan needs more college graduates in order to improve economically,
Granholm said, according to The News. The report, produced by Lt. Gov. John
Cherry's Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth, included
recommendations to increase the difficulty of high school coursework and to help provide a college education to all interested students. "These recommendations no doubt will appear in one form or another in policy," Granholm said, according to The News. "Stay tuned for specifics."

It is not clear if the Legislature can afford to implement all of the
recommendations. "Some of the things that can be done are relatively low cost,"
said Lou Anna Simon, who will soon become president of Michigan State
University. "There are other recommendations that require money."

Just 26 percent of Michigan residents age 25 to 34 have received bachelor's
degrees; some states have rates of 33 percent or more, according to The News.
The national average is 27.5 percent.

DETROIT SCHOOL AUDIT UNCOVERS QUESTIONABLE FINANCIAL PRACTICES
DETROIT — A Detroit school district audit of several Detroit
public schools found that almost $200,000 of school money was
missing or spent improperly at Redford High School, according to
the Detroit Free Press. The principal at Redford has since been
placed on administrative leave, the Free Press reported. The
district's audit also found problems at the district's central
warehouse.

The Detroit Public Schools conducted the audit of Redford High
School for the 2003-2004 school year after receiving anonymous
tips about the school. The audit reportedly found about $200,000
that was missing or misspent on items like flat-screen
televisions and office furniture, according to the Free Press.
The Free Press reported an audit finding that the school had
failed to solicit competitive bids for two major contracts
totaling $114,000.

The Redford High principal told The Detroit News, however, that
there had been no impropriety, and that one of the financial
practices the audit questioned had already been discontinued. "No
one has bothered to look at how high the math scores are," he
told The News. "The number of parents' complaints are also down."

The audits also showed problems at the district's central
warehouse with tracking district supplies and funds, according to
the Free Press. In one instance, the Free Press reported, the
district hired a contractor for $3.9 million to sort and
distribute warehouse goods, but the district lacks documentation
to prove the work was completed.

The Detroit school district is currently facing a $198 million
shortfall. "In this critical time, the district needs to make
sure the funds are spent in the manner in which they are
intended," April Royster, the Detroit district's chief of
internal audits, told the Free Press.

PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS SPECIAL EDUCATION REAUTHORIZATION
REHOBOTH, Del. — President Bush earlier this month signed into
law a reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, which was developed during two years of debate in
the U.S. House and Senate, according to the Delaware Coast Press.

The bill was authored by Delaware Congressman Mike Castle, who
was also author of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, an
earlier federal education law. "This new law, a result of all of
our labor, is a bright light that demonstrates both parties can
work together and achieve real change to improve the lives of
Americans," said Castle, according to the Coast Press.

The new law includes measures meant to reduce the paperwork load
on teachers, to better identify children with special needs, to
improve classroom discipline and to expand choices for parents.

GRAND RAPIDS BOARD REVIEWS PLANS FOR YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLS
EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids school board last
week reviewed preliminary plans to implement a year-round
"alternative calendar" in two district schools, the East Grand
Rapids Cadence News reported.

The schools, Dickerson Elementary and Ottawa Montessori, would
have year-round schedules interrupted only by one- and two-week
breaks, during which students might still voluntarily participate
in remedial work or other programs. The district's executive
director of curriculum and early childhood instruction, Deb
McFalone, said enough support for the idea exists at the two
schools to implement the switch this coming fall.

McFalone said reading scores in the district show that students
decline in academic performance over the summer, in contrast to
the steady or improved scores of students who take summer school.
"That confirmed our own hunch that when we don't disconnect for
those 10 weeks in the summer, we can impact some retention,"
McFalone said, according to the Cadence News. Under the proposed
alternative calendar, the longer summer vacation would be
replaced by shorter breaks spread throughout the year.

MICHIGAN SCHOOLS CHIEF CALLS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT RESTRUCTURING
DETROIT — In an eight-page report to the Michigan Board of
Education last week, Michigan Superintendent of Public
Instruction Tom Watkins called on school districts around the
state to address school funding difficulties by restructuring
their district policies and business practices, according to the
Detroit Free Press.

Watkins said school districts must consider such remedies as
mergers and shared business services. Requests for state tax
increases to boost education spending will likely be rebuffed,
given that state government has a projected $1 billion deficit in
fiscal 2005, Watkins said. He also questioned the effectiveness
of a tax increase absent reform: "Calls to raise taxes to fund
education without a systematic overhaul will only serve to
maintain the status quo," he wrote in his report.

The Free Press reported that the cost of retirement and benefits
for school employees is soaring, with health care coverage
consuming two-thirds of every new dollar given to schools.

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (
http://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper with a circulation of 130,000 published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (
http://www.mackinac.org), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.